


The Surface and Other Incredible Things

by Renegade_Reaper



Series: the children of the sea [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Big Brother Shiro (Voltron), Fisherman Lance, M/M, Siren Shiro, keith likes to sneak out, mermaid keith, mermaid shiro, shiro is so done with him, siren keith
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-03
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2019-06-01 15:08:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15145817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Renegade_Reaper/pseuds/Renegade_Reaper
Summary: Where have you been?Dammit. So much for being sneaky. Keith winces, turning around to face his adoptive older brother. His tail flicks nervously, glittering in the dim light of their cave.Nowhere, he replies, giving the sharklike siren an innocent smile.Shiro watches his younger brother, his piercing silver gaze staring right through his lies.Then why are you late to bed?He asks.*Keith has been caught sneaking out. Shiro has his hands full.





	The Surface and Other Incredible Things

**Author's Note:**

> Here's another oneshot, as requested! You guys must really love mer!keith.
> 
> No editing we die like men. Also I think my girlfriend is sleeping, so... no editing because she is a sleepy angel.

_Where have you been?_

Dammit. So much for being sneaky. Keith winces, turning around to face his adoptive older brother. His tail flicks nervously, glittering in the dim light of their cave. _Nowhere_ , he replies, giving the shark-like siren an innocent smile.

Shiro watches his younger brother, his piercing silver gaze staring right through his lies. _Then why are you late to bed?_ He asks.

The smaller siren laces his hands behind his back, studying his elder brother. Shiro was worried; he could tell in the way his gills flared. It was funny to think that Shiro - the Shiro who had taken on a shoal of wicked looking fish to save Keith when he was just a tiny hatchling, the Shiro who was scarred and had lost an arm fighting to save their home - was scared. And for him, of all people.

_Am I late?_ Keith decides to play dumb. _I hadn’t noticed._

Sharp silver eyes narrow. Shiro swims closer to his brother, circling him and brushing his rough, webbed fingers over Keith’s scales. _You’re missing one_ , he observes. He pulls his fingers away, sniffing his hand. His nostrils flare and he hisses, making Keith duck away from the noise. Uh oh.

_Humans!_ Shiro seethes. _What were you doing with humans? I thought I made myself very clear that you were to stay away from the surface._

Keith snatches his tail away, scowling. _I got caught in a trap. It was an accident! I was chasing a shoal near the tides and I got swept into a trap._

_Scales don’t come off easily, Keith._ His older brother takes his wrist, pulling him toward the deep cavern they lived in. _Where did that go, pray tell?_

_Shiro!_ He whines, dragging his tail along the walls to try and slow them down. _Stop dragging me, I’m not a guppy. And it’s none of your business where I went, I’m almost fully grown._

_You still have two winters until you are considered an adult, Keith._ Bubbles float up to the water as Shiro sighs, turning to face his little brother. _I am your guardian. You live in my cave, you abide by my rules, do you understand?_

_Your rules are stupid._ Keith tries to pull his arm away, but Shiro was too strong.

_My rules are designed to keep you safe._ The elder siren starts to pull him to his part of the cave. _And when you disobey them and come home smelling of humans, you have to face your consequences._

_I told you!_ Keith lets out an undignified, annoyed screech. His brother stops, giving him a look of exasperation. The younger siren huffs - he was only acting like a guppy because Shiro was treating him like one. _It was an accident. The human saved me! I got trapped in a net and he saved me._

Shiro pushes him into his section of the cave, stiffening. _The human touched you? Is that why your scale is missing? Did he steal it?_ He snarls, his shark-like teeth glinting dimly. Keith shrinks back, sitting on his bed and patting the woven kelp rug. He knew what those teeth could do, he had seen it firsthand.

_No, he didn’t take it. I… I gave it to him._

Shiro roars, the sound bouncing off the walls of the cave. The younger siren whimpers, his ears pinning to his head and his tail coiling underneath him. The warrior doesn’t notice; he paces the cave angrily.

_What does he look like?_ Shiro seethes, gnashing his teeth, his massive fins splayed wide in a show of aggression and dominance. _I’ll kill him, I’ll rip his head from his body and feed the rest of him to the fish. How dare he? Who does he think he is?_

Keith coos soothingly, picking at the kelp underneath him with his claws. He didn’t want the human to come to any harm - he would quite like to see him again, given the chance. Not that Shiro needed to know any of this.

_I gave him the scale willingly_ , he says, _as a thank you._

The bigger male turns on him, his mood switching from vengeful to alarmed. _You did what? Oh, Keith, tell me you didn’t just do what I heard you say…_

The siren shifts, brushing his tail off and looking up at his guardian, squaring his shoulders. _I gave it to him._

Shiro drags his hand down his face, letting out a low moan of exhausted worry. _Do you understand what you’ve done? Humans are greedy, he will go back to his village and show it to them. He’ll lure you to the surface just to steal all of your scales - I wish you weren’t so handsome, I really do. Maybe then he would leave you alone._

_Hey!_ Keith lets out a sharp, indignant cry. He wasn’t sure whether he should be annoyed because his brother wished he was unattractive, or flattered that Shiro thought he was.

_I will deal with you tomorrow._ Shiro huffs, giving him a firm look that meant go to sleep, Keith. The young siren was very familiar with that look. He watches as his brother settles in, shuffling with his own bed in annoyance. Now he would never be let out of sight.

*

Sure enough, Keith was not allowed to leave Shiro’s sight until the next full moon. Even when the time had passed, it was like pulling anemone from a coral reef to get him to agree. The patrols for the tribe was lacking one of their greatest warriors. The elders were becoming worried that perimeters might have to shrink if Shiro didn’t return.

It was this that pulled him away from watching Keith with an intent silver stare as the younger siren rolled around the cave, going mad with boredom.

_I’m on night patrol tonight._ Shiro informs him one afternoon, after they had returned from hunting.

_Are you?_ Keith tries not to display the thrill of excitement that had run up his spine.

_No bright ideas, Keith._ His brother shakes his head. _I’ll be back by moonrise. I expect you to be in your bed then, do you understand? No going to the surface, no chasing shoals, no humans._

_Yes, Shiro._ The siren groans, putting his hunting knife away. _I know._

Shiro’s gaze softens. He swims over, ruffling Keith’s hair. _I love you._

_Yeah. I love you, too._

*

Keith has to wait until Shiro stops fussing over him and actually leaves before he can do anything. He waits for a few ticks, holding his breath. Once the sound of the patrol fades away to almost nothing, he darts out of the cave and rushes for the reef.

He hides there for a little while, peeking over it and watching. His brother casts worried looks over to the cave, but a few of the soldiers clap him on the back. One of them says something and Keith can see his brother laugh. Good, he was distracted.

The young siren waits a few more minutes before he races to the surface, over to where the tide pulled in. The human’s nets weren’t over by the rocks he had been caught at. With a curious noise, Keith turns tail and swims up to the other side of the coast.

No… his nets weren’t around the cliffs. There was no sign of anyone over by the sandbars… The reef was clear. Keith blows bubbles, scowling. What did humans have to even do? He was more important than any other trivial, frivolous thing that humans did.

Just as the siren was about to turn tail and go home, a shadow falls over him. He blinks, darting around before he looks up at… what looked like a flat, floaty surface. His ears perk, his gills and fins flaring in excitement. Could it be?

He watches as a net is cast into the water, letting out a happy trill. It was! He darts his way to the surface, peering up. Just in case it wasn’t… but it was! His human was sitting there in the floating contraption, his brow furrowed in concentration.

Keith breaks the surface, letting out an excited screech to get the human’s attention. It lets out a similar cry, but he seemed more surprised than excited. The siren wriggles with glee, hauling himself up the side of the boat and clicking excitedly.

“Oh, hello.” The human laughs, looking down at him with eyes that glittered like the sea. Keith sighs internally. Were all humans this pretty, or just his? “I’d hoped to see you again soon.”

The siren whirs and clicks, scrabbling at the side of the boat before managing to haul himself into it with a splash and an almighty flop. The poor contraption creaks wearily, bobbing about frantically.

Keith doesn’t seem to notice. He edges closer to Lance, his amethyst gaze bright with excitement. He reaches out, pressing his hands to the humans fragile cheeks. The siren screeches again, pleased.

“Okay, okay,” His human winces. “Take it easy on the ears, _mi sirenito_.”

Hm. This one spoke the same strange words that the other ones on this coast did. He coos, leaning against the human’s side, brushing his hands down his neck. Keith stops when it gets caught on something, tugging.

“Oh, hold on.” The human bats his hand away gently, reaching into his outer layer of not-flesh and tugging out some sort of ropey thing. He never had understood why humans tied things to their bodies. “Recognize this?”

Keith makes an inquisitive noise, looking down at it. His eyes widen. That was his scale! The human was wearing his scale! _His_ human was wearing his scale! The siren wriggles about, tugging at the twine before pulling his hand away and brushing down his scales self consciously. He had forgotten to groom today.

His human laughs, shaking his head. “I thought you’d like that. What brings you here, mm? Am I really that interesting?”

The young siren looks up at him, tilting his head this way and that. _Yes. So much more interesting than my cave._ Shiro was going to have a sea cow.

The human reaches toward the siren. Keith startles, sliding back into the water and peeking up at him, his eyes wide.

“Okay, so, no touching.” It pulls it’s hand away. “I can do that.”

Keith blows bubbles, then tips his head up and spits water at his human.

“Hey!” It laughs, lurching back and putting up a hand to shield itself. “I get it, no touching! You play nice, _mi sirenito_.”

Keith is about to hop aboard the floaty thing again, but the moon catches his eye. Oh! It was almost fully risen - he had to get back before Shiro did! He squeaks, splashing frantically, but stops and looks up at the confused human.

He had to go. There was no time for goodbyes. With a mournful little squeak, Keith splashes him and ducks under the water, leaving the human with only bubbles and his own voice crying out in confusion.

By the time he makes it home, Keith just barely misses the patrol. He ducks into his bed, curling up and closing his eyes, holding his breath as Shiro comes in. Okay. Just breathe. Pretend to be asleep. Nothing had happened, he wasn’t guilty.

Shiro swims over, tucking the woven kelp over his brother with a soft noise of fondness. Keith tries not to smile. A hand brushes through his hair, gentle.

_Goodnight, Keith._ His brother ghosts a kiss over his cheek before he retires for the night. The younger siren waits until his brother is still and quiet before he rolls over, looking out at the moon’s reflection in the water.

He’d see his human again soon. Not even Shiro could keep him away.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to all of the wonderful readers who corrected my Spanish!! I'll have to rely on you guys now when I want to use words in another language. 
> 
> That being said, if you have a Tumblr and are fluent or better than google translate at Spanish, I beg you to follow me. I'm only trained in Japanese, guys.
> 
> Please please _please_ tell me if there are any other aus you'd like me to do! As much as I love Mermaid Keith, there's only so much I can do with this until I get very unmotivated.
> 
> Thank you for reading, and go yell at me on my tumblr at [RenyWrites](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/renywrites)


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